Followers of Kieren Fallon got their fingers badly burned at Lingfield this afternoon when the champion jockey was beaten a short head by the odds-on favourite Rye in the betdirect.co.uk Median Auction Maiden Stakes.
Fallon now faces a visit to Portman Square in London after the Lingfield stewards decided to refer the case to the Jockey Club.
Fallon was on board the Andrew Balding-trained Ballinger Ridge (15-8) in the one-mile contest and he looked all over the winner when moving 10 lengths clear at halfway.
But he appeared to take things easy a furlong out, only to get to work when a glance over his shoulder showed Rye and Chris Catlin to be closing. Ballinger Ridge could not pick up momentum quickly enough, though, and he was headed in the shadow of the post.
A deputation of around 100 angry punters quickly gathered outside the weighing room and booed and cat-called Fallon on his return.
Balding said: "It's unfortunate that the horse is still a maiden, but he's been disappointing and has had 18 chances."
Stewards interviewed Fallon, who said that his instructions had been to make the running and hang on to win the race, directions that Balding confirmed were correct. The trainer also added that the horse had run 19 times and was very difficult to win with.
Having considered video evidence, the stewards found Fallon to be in breach of rule 156(i), in that he failed to ride out for first place.
John Maxse, public relations director at Portman Square, confirmed that there had been some concern at the betting patterns in the race and that was the reason behind the referral.
"Kieren Fallon has been referred on to the Jockey Club with the reason being that shortly before the race, the security department did contact the Lingfield stewards to report some of what they describe as suspicious betting patterns," he said.
"In view of what happened in the race, it would be remiss of the stewards to resolve the matter on course without considering whether there is any correlation between the two."